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Mayoral Horse Race

Former San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro left a bad taste in the mouths of Bexar County Republicans.

"What we saw in the last mayor is he stepped out into the national scene and spoke at the Democratic National Convention, and things were obvious where he was," Bexar County Republican Chair Robert Stovall said, explaining that City Charter requires the office to be nonpartisan.

But politics will be politics, and thus far, the three most well-known candidates are all longtime Democrats: Mike Villarreal, Leticia Van de Putte and Tommy Adkisson.

And according to Stovall, all three have called
his office seeking meetings. So far he's chatted
with Villarreal, Van de Putte and Independent
Paul Martinez.

One question that Stovall asked Villarreal and Van de Putte was if the mayoral spot would be a steppingstone to the national scene for them, like it was for Castro, whom President Barack Obama appointed as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Stovall said Van de Putte told him this was the "end of the line" for her while Villarreal expressed his intention to finish his dissertation in public policy. As for Adkisson, he is touting himself as a "stay at home" mayor, too. Martinez echoed similar sentiments in an interview last year.

While Stovall would love it if a conservative entered the race, he said he hadn't heard of any who were planning to run. So Republicans are watching the candidates closely, because according to Stovall, conservative voters make up a third of San Antonio's turnout and could swing the race toward the candidate of their choice. The Republican Chair, however, declined to say who that might be because he doesn't want to endorse anyone.